Anyone good at identifying plants? (*NOTE-Image heavy)

[KabeRinnaul]

This is less "advice" and more "hoping someone knows a bit more than me because Googling descriptions is hard and time-consuming".

I'm cutting away a bunch of undergrowth on the hillside behind our house (making room for a garden, getting more sun on the pool, getting the back deck to feel less cramped...), and the easiest way to deal with what I cut down seems to be a burn pile. Thing is, some of these plants I can't identify, and I'm wary of burning them without knowing that, because I'm well aware that some plants can produce toxic smoke.

There are some hanging vines and oak branches that I know are safe, but these two are the ones I'm concerned about:

*MOD NOTE - Oversized images resized as a courtesy to others. Click on images to enlarge





And I'm pretty sure these are safe, but just on the grounds that they're by far the most common thing I'm cutting down, I kinda want to know what, exactly, they are:



Any help is appreciated.

[dalesys]

Cut bruise mash the top one with a tool. If it stinks, it's ailanthus aka Tree of Heaven.

[KabeRinnaul]

*MOD NOTE - Oversized images resized as a courtesy to others. Click on images to enlarge

Some more pictures.

First, the totally-unidentified reed-like plants. Here's the height of one against the house, a close-up of it, a dead stalk from among the leaf litter, and two young stalks on a root:



[WIMG]http://i539.photobucket.com/albums/ff355/kaberinnaul/IMG_20160610_141903781.jpg[W/IMG]

Since there are multiple stalks on one root, I guess this is all one plant, and they just tear away from the roots easily.

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Second, the (probably "Tree of Heaven") trees. Closeups of the wood, leaves, and flowers:




Notably for the Tree of Heaven theory, these don't have much of an odor.

Also, my dog likes it:

[TheSHAD0W]

Bottom two should be safe. Top one appears to be a variety of sumac, and possibly poison sumac. The poison variety might have somewhat irritating smoke. It's difficult to determine if it's poison sumac unless it's fruiting, in which case the berries will be white and waxy.

[KuariKaydrith]

The top one looks like Japanese knotweed to me. It's an invasive plant that can be really difficult to get rid of. There's a huge patch of it near where I live and the city has been fighting to get rid of it for years - it can be cut down but it all grows back as if nothing happened inside of a couple of months. It tends to overhang the sidewalk at the end of my street, making it impossible to use the sidewalk once the knotweed has grown back.

[Cia]

Try your county extension office or get a book from the library.

[Kittish]

A lot of places have a Master Gardener program, they'll likely be able to identify all of those pretty handily. You can find out on line or in a phone book if there's one in your area. Don't bother emailing them, though, just call or swing by their office in person.

[Food Lady]

I have no idea about the plants but I can tell you your dog's adorable!

[Kheldarson]

I have no idea about the plants but I can tell you your dog's adorable!

Thanks Watching her and the little play together is a treat, although little has some automatic responses (like dodging and bunching up) to her now. She's still a bit too much for him, lol.

We have a pile of stuff to burn now, but Kabe's made our backyard look much better.